Sunday, July 31, 2011

High Summer

It is now high summer here at Darlington House. The gardens have peaked, and we must now water the lawns between rainfalls in order to maintain their greenness. Fortunately, we do not suffer from drought or water shortages here in the Hudson River Valley. Our lakes are full, our water tables are high, and the well on our property flows abundantly.

Nothing quite says "high summer" to me like sunflowers do. This was the first Saturday when there was an abundance of them at the farmers' market in the nearby town. Boy bought every bunch of sunflowers from one of the vendors there and brought his bounty home with him.

He arranged the sunflowers in a large blue-and-white ginger jar that I bought in New York's Chinatown many years ago. It is one of pair. I think I paid all of twenty dollars apiece for them. I bought the jars to place on top of a Georgian secretary-bookcase that I had at the time, along with a grouping of other large blue-and-white Chinese vessels. I had seen such an arrangement in an English country house and admired it. I am confident that the vessels arranged in the house that inspired me were far finer and more valuable than mine, but my attempt at recreating the "look for less" was a success, and I was quite pleased with it. While I no longer have the secretary-bookcase—a victim of changing tastes and circumstances—I have kept the ginger jars because they are useful for displaying large bunches of flowers, such as Boy has done here. When the jars are not being used to hold flowers or branches we store them on a shelf in our flower arranging room, the luxurious presence of which is this flora lover's dream come true.

The arrangement of sunflowers Boy made is a substantial one, standing just shy of two feet tall. It is shown sitting on top of an antique tole tray on our screened porch, where it has quite a lot of impact. The cast-iron frog, also seen on the tray and one of a collection we own, appears to be quite interested in the gorgeous sunflowers, don't you think?

21 comments:

Still waiting for my Midsummer's invitation. Oh wait, the time has passed. Oh well, next year:). I have sunflowers growing in my rose bed, as volunteers. I let them sprout, it bolsters my little-supported sense of rebellion.

Hello Reggie:Summer indeed! Sunflowers are to us also the epitome of summer when, out in the countryside, the fields are full of them, acres and acres stretching as far as the eye can see and at their peak at this moment. In another week or so they will start to go over and by late summer will be almost completely brown, their seeds ready for harvesting.

Boy's arrangement in the blue and white ginger jar is perfect, a classic combination of blue and yellow which works so well as you have it. Alas, we are without a similar container or we should be tempted to copy!

Very beautiful, Reggie, and very cheering! Years ago, the Celt and I drove down from Amsterdam into France towards Provence flanked on either side of the road by field after field of sunflowers. Utterly magical. The perfect combination, isn't it, the blue-and-white jar with the yellow flowers?

That's a stunning arrangement! I've always loved those Chinese ginger jars. It really sets off the boldness of the sunflowers beautifully. Yes, the frog does seem to be enthralled.

I have several pieces of antique Canton china that my Grandmother picked up in her travels, blue willow, very "rustic" and hand-painted. Wish there had been a ginger jar or some container that would double as a vase among them.

what a nice display! in a former life i was a florits and still keep a market badge so i can go on flower arranging sprees everr so often. of course here in san francisco it's all about the fog. my summer blooms are the masdevalia orchids that love the moist air.

Sunflowers in blue & white porcelain are a hard-to-beat combination. I don't even mind the flowers a bit past their prime, enjoying the arrangement to the head-hanging end. Although I did not plant sunflowers this year, I still have hydrangeas blooming in the garden.

Gorgeous! I aspire to have fresh flowers in my home on a regular basis one day. Sadly, I'm currently too scatter-brained, and when I do have flowers I forget to remove them when they die and get gross. But one day I will be a responsible flower owner!

About Me

Saint Grottlesex/Ivy League somewhat-observant Episcopalian WASP living on Manhattan's UES during the week with a career in finance. Weekends I hightail it up to the Hudson River Valley where I'm ruinously restoring and furnishing a jewel of a Federal house with my spouse, Boy Fenwick, and our most-adored pug, Basil, who has decided views on these subjects.